World News - No end in sight for Iraq feud Constitution's framers split powers to bridle 'dog of war'

Congress and the White House are locked in a high-stakes game of chicken over the war in Iraq, with no easy way out for either side. If Congress wins, American troops could be home as soon as next March - whatever the consequences for Iraq and the broader war on terrorism. If President Bush wins, the troops will stay and keep trying to transform Iraq into a stable democracy - whatever the cost in lives and dollars. History, political calculation and simple math suggest that congressional Democrats will blink first, but that won't end the fight. It's a power struggle with deep roots in American history. More than 200 years after the drafters of the Constitution split war powers between the president and the Congress, Americans are still arguing over the proper balance. The president is the commander in chief of the armed forces, but only Congress can declare war and provide funding for the military.... http://www.myrtlebeachonline.com

Iraq's dwindling Christian minority donned their Sunday best and spoiled their children during quiet Easter celebrations at home, fearful of the bombings and abductions terrorising Baghdad's streets. "Despite the sorrow and pain, we have been preparing for the feast, which is upon us, buying new clothes for the children," says Hiyam, a 42-year-old mother of two arriving for the traditional Catholic mass with her husband. After church, it is round to her mother's for a Sunday lunch of deep fried meatballs and biriyani rice. Chocolate Easter eggs are not a fixture in Iraq. Hiyam and her husband say most Christians at the Our Lady of Salvation Church in the once wealthy Karrada district have packed up and fled abroad in the four years since the US-led invasion. The nationwide community, which stood at more than one million people before the 1991 Gulf War and is one of the oldest in the world, has shrunk over the years, with more and more people fleeing Iraq's insecurity for safer shores....http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070408/wl_mideast_afp/easterreligioniraq_070408201654;_ylt=Ald3FQ5Cw4bEnLOJR3BLTaRX6GMA

The nightmare for Adnan Mahmoud Shukur and his family began with a crude, handwritten note slipped under their garage door.Shukur never thought he would be targeted by the sectarian death squads sweeping Baghdad. He was a Sunni Muslim but was happily married to a Shiite. He had six kids. He helped his neighbors, regardless of their religious affiliation, buy kerosene to heat their homes. He disdained politics. So when the anonymous note came, ordering his family to move out of their home immediately, Shukur simply tore it to pieces. "He was very stubborn," said Shukur's nephew, Mohammed Noural-Din Mahmoud. "And very brave."Several weeks later, on Feb. 4, gunmen forced Shukur into the trunk of a BMW while he stood near a gas station, Mahmoud said. Shukur's 13-year-old son watched as the car sped away, then rushed home to tell his family. Two days later, they learned Shukur had been killed....http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2007-04-08-baghdad-abduction_N.htm?csp=34

This wide-angle photo by Reuters of the toppling of Saddam Hussein's statue in central Baghdad arouses suspicions that the "spontaneous jubilation" by the Iraqi masses shown on television around the world was a "media event" orchestrated by the Pentagon. Rather than a spontaneous mass demonstration, the photo clearly shows that only a couple hundred Iraqis participated in the largely empty and heavily guarded Fardus Square. American tanks and troops surrounded the square and one armored vehicle "helped" the Iraqis pull down the statue. In the upper part of the photo, it appears that normal traffic into the square has been blocked by American troops. Conveniently, this square is in close proximity to the Palestine Hotel, which houses journalists covering the war. The timing of the activities is also suspicious; the wrecking of the statue occurred during the morning shows on the American television networks...http://www.antiwar.com/orig/baghdad.html

It was an unforgettable image: a lone Iraqi striking blow after blow on that towering statue of Sadaam Hussein. "It was always my wish in life to destroy that statue," said Khadim Yabani. And four years ago, he finally got his wish, reports CBS News' Martin Seemungal. Yabani remembers the moment as if it were yesterday. "We were so happy," he said. "We got rid of the tyrant." Yabani, a Sunni, became the symbol of a nation liberated. But then a violent insurgency erupted, followed by vicious sectarian fighting between the minority Sunnis, who had ruled for so long under Saddam, and the restive Shiite majority. The former Olympic class weightlifter remembers the days when virtually every neighborhood was safe to walk in. His passion is motorcycles. He spends hours at his workshop. But in Baghdad there's more demand for heavily armored vehicles than Harley Davidsons. Yabani says life for ordinary Iraqis just keeps getting worse....http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/04/08/iraq/main2661887.shtml?source=RSSattr=World_2661887

Pennsylvania’s new statewide computer system makes it possible for the first time to put a number on how many warrants remain unserved across the state 1.4 million, including more than 100 for homicide, The A P has found. Pennsylvania is now the largest state to complete such a comprehensive court computer network, although several other large states including California, New York and Ohio are planning or implementing such systems, according to the National Center for State Courts in Williamsburg, Va. The database is designed, in part, to help authorities reach across county lines to capture fugitives who have moved to avoid detection. It will also allow government officials & the public to compare how courts are performing from county to county. We have too many laws making too many people criminals. We have over 8 million laws in this country making it impossible to live a normal life without breaking hundreds of them. The day of the “law abiding” person is long gone...http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18013262/